There’s no doubt about it, I’m seriously smitten with the Earthbound Farm Baby Kale Mix that suddenly appeared at the Fresh Market store by my house. I’ve been buying it every time I see it at the store (and so is everyone else apparently, because about half the time they don’t have any.) Making a salad with the raw baby kale was a snap and I loved this Raw Baby Kale Salad with Apples, Sunflower Seeds, and Lemon-Dijon Vinaigrette.This salad couldn’t be simpler; it’s just raw baby kale, apples tossed in a lemon-Dijon vinaigrette, and crispy sunflower seeds adding a little crunch. The dressing for this is slightly sweet, so maybe this would be a good one to try out on family members who are on the fence about raw kale.

I do want to say, although you might be able to make this Baby Kale Salad with Apples with bigger leaves of kale, once the leaves get bigger some varieties of kale are pretty strong to be eaten raw. I’ve had good luck with Red Russian Kale in salads, so if you can’t find the baby kale, I would recommend that.

After I cored and sliced the apple, I cut each section into chunks and then tossed it with about half the dressing. (The lemon in the dressing will keep the apples from turning brown, so be sure all the pieces are coated with dressing.)

Toss the baby kale with the rest of the dressing, or enough that it’s well moistened.

Instructions:
If you can’t find the mixed baby kale leaves I highly recommend Red Russian Kale for this salad instead of other kale varieties. If using Red Kale, cut away the rib in each leaf and chop the kale into bite-sized pieces. The baby kale does not need to be chopped. Whichever kale you use, if it is even a little bit wilted I would crisp it in a salad spinner with very cold water and then spin dry (or dry with paper towels, until it’s very dry.)

Mix together the white balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and sweetener (or sugar), and then whisk in the olive oil to make the dressing. Core the apple, cut into slices, and cut each slice into chunks. Put apple pieces in a small bowl and toss with about half the dressing, making sure each piece of the apple is coated with dressing.

Put the kale into a bowl large enough to hold all the salad, add the rest of the dressing and toss to coat. (If you don’t like much dressing, you may not need it all.) Add the apples coated with dressing and sunflower seeds and toss again.

This was not bad after being in the fridge overnight, but next time I would only mix as much salad as I could eat at that time. Refrigerate the extra kale and apples and dressing mixture separately and toss together with the sunflower seeds right before you’re eating the leftovers.

South Beach Diet / Low-Carb Diet Suggestions:
The use of apples in this salad makes it limited for phase 2 or 3 of the South Beach Diet, and it’s important to use an approved sweetener if you’re making it for South Beach. Even though it has fruit, this salad is pretty low in carbs because there’s only one apple in four servings.

Nutritional Information?
If you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into this nutrition analyzer, which will calculate it for you. Or if you’re a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

I love this recipe! It feels so fresh and simple but flavorful. I cant wait to try this. Another thing I am loving right now is white balsamic vinegar. I used it all the time a while ago, but recently started using it again. And well, kale of course, cant get enough of that. Thank you for the great idea!

When you first posted about this kale, I ran right out to my local market, and then another, and a third, and nobody had it. I asked the produce manager at each market to think about stocking it, so I have my fingers crossed.

Love the sound of this, Kalyn. I will have it tomorrow…need all sorts of veggies every day to get slimmmer before my niece's wedding, so thanks for all the help. I had a gazpacho soup with mango yesterday at an event…delicious…I will check and see if you have a recipe for one on your site.

I've been buying up the baby kale mix like CRAZY…I always have it in my fridge. At all times. I just love to incorporate it into just about every meal. 🙂 I've been dreaming of a raw kale salad lately and I think this may just be it!

Wow, what a deliciously fresh looking salad – perfect for spring! I have been coming to your blog for years now (actually you were the very first food blog I followed!) and you continue to be such an inspiration. Such a wonderful site and beautiful photography. Thanks Kalyn!

This was delicious. I was looking for a salad to use up the remainder of the baby kale in my fridge (I used some to make quinoa soup with greens) and found your recipe. I used local honey for the sweetener and added thinly sliced kumquats. I also let it sit dressed in the fridge for 40 minutes. Will definitely make again!

This is my 10 year old son's favourite salad. He begs for it. I have used regular kale chopped up small. I've added carrots, switched in pumpkins seeds or apple cider vinegar depending what I have in the house and it is always a big hit. I never have enough to take for lunch the next day. Enjoyed it tonight and thought I should thank you.

Hi Kalyn – I ran across this salad over on Pinterest and had to stop by to tell you how delicious it looks. I'm going to chop summer peaches into the bowl in place of apples. Terrific year around salad.